This July, STOR-i hosted an alumni knowledge exchange and career development workshop at Lancaster House Hotel. The event brought together a good proportion of alumni from STOR-i’s first 12 cohorts, current students, and staff for inspiring talks, engaging panel discussions, a poster session, and valuable networking.

An evening session saw the current STOR-i PhD students presenting their ongoing research projects with a poster session. The event also provided an opportunity to mark another milestone achieved since the last alumni event in 2022 - the completion of over 100 PhD students - and highlighted the importance of these events in reconnecting and celebrating our growing community.

The following morning, talks were delivered from STOR-i alumni Jack Baker (Kraken), Thu Dang (Lancaster University), Holly Jackson (Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève), Hamish Thorburn (Expedia Group), Tim Park (The Citation Group) and Lucy Morgan (The Strategy Unit, NHS).

The current students of STOR-i and those recently graduated could then opt to question a panel consisting of: Matt Bold (Ecotricity), Jamie-Leigh Chapman (The Very Group), Jak Marshall (Hangar 13), Jess Spearing (Shell) and Szymon Urbas (Maynooth University) about the processes of obtaining a first job and establishing yourself in that role; or a panel on building a career through taking on increasing leadership roles and seeking promotion internally or by moving employer in both academia and industry: Kaylea Maidstone (Netacea), Chris Nemeth (Lancaster University) and Emma Ross (Shell).

The networking session proved a particular highlight with current students able to book up to seven 10-minute slots with alumni for one-to-one advice to help guide their thinking about career pathways. Feedback from this part of the programme was extremely positive, noting that the session “helped encourage talking to different people” and that the “alumni genuinely wanted to help”.

Co-organiser of the event, Dr Anna-Lena Sachs, said: "It was great having so many alumni from all STOR-i generations back in Lancaster and seeing them engage with each other as well as our current students through talks, panels, poster and networking sessions. It proved an invaluable experience for everyone."

After the success of the event, STOR-i looks forward to holding our next Alumni Workshop within the next few years and welcoming back even more of our STOR-i alumni.

To learn more about STOR-i, it's other events, and the benefits of joining the programme, visit the STOR-i website.